STOCKTON, Utah- The small town of Stockton is under a boil order after the town’s emergency pump failed, creating the risk of sediment from the Jacob City Fire burn scar making it’s way into the water supply. 

The fire burned around 4,000 acres in Soldier Canyon, which is where the town gets a lot of it’s incoming water. Once the fire burned the sediment where water flows in, the city quickly switched to an emergency well. But, the emergency well’s generator failed, prompting officials to issue the boil order.

Stockton’s mayor sent out a letter late Wednesday in response to the situation which stated the following.

“Due to the town’s water system being in such disarray, we will need to take a $3-million-dollar loan out to replace the water system. The loan will cost each resident $66 a month additional on their water bill. Paying a total of $96 a month of water, not to include trash or sewer. As of August 24, 2022 I am also issuing a ban on all outside watering, until such time that we can get our water system back to full capacity. If these steps are not taken, we may need to unincorporate the town. These items are scheduled to be discussed and maybe acted upon at tomorrow’s emergency meeting.” 

Mayor Nando Meli spoke with KSL Newsradio early Thursday morning about the letter and said the $3-million is for an entirely new water treatment plant.

“It’s 35-plus-years-old,” Meli said. “The piping’s all bad, foundation needs to be redone, the roof needs to be replaced…more or less the whole plant needs to be replaced.”

Meli said things have become so dire that the future of the town is in jeopardy. 

A letter from the Stockton Mayor Nando Meli about the culinary water situation after the #JacobCityFire pic.twitter.com/SvFJETaU81

— Derek Petersen (@Derek_Photog) August 25, 2022

Meli said that the previous mayor had a study done on the plant in 2017, where they found the problems adding, “It’s a sand-filtration plant…[which] probably should have never been put in place up here because of the salt content of the water,” Meli said.

The town is still seeking the $3-million for the new plant in a variety of ways.

When asked about the idea of unincorporating the town, Meli said, “That was just to get people’s attention….[to] how bad off we are with our water system.”

A meeting to discuss the boil order and the water treatment plant is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Stay updated with the story: Kslnewsradio.com/listen